Edmonton Oilers trying to put train wreck in rear view mirror

When a team loses 39 of its first 70 games, isolating the costliest and most crushing defeat of them all should be a serious challenge.

And in a frustrating and turbulent Edmonton Oilers season that seemed dead and buried three times over, it was.

Until Wednesday night, anyway.

After a stunning 6-3 defeat to an AHL team trying to disguise itself as the New Jersey Devils, there is no debating which one of those 39 losses left the Oilers feeling most like Oscar Klefbom’s undercarriage after that unfortunate shot block against the Rangers.

This was Jersey puck on Oiler groin from start to finish, and a day later people still can’t wrap their heads around how and why such an important game against such a weak and understaffed opponent got away from them as completely as it did.

It was just a baffling effort by a team that had shown so much fight in the days and weeks leading up to it. Or maybe it was reality catching up with a team that had been playing above its head for too long.

Whatever it was, it hurt. It might even have been fatal.

“Obviously it is disappointing that we missed a huge opportunity,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid. “But we are in a bit of a playoff series here until the end. When one doesn’t go well you have to shake it off and be ready to work for the next one.”

The Oilers got Thursday off to mourn, scan the wreckage for clues and regroup before they fly out for a killer three-game road trip through Arizona, Las Vegas and St. Louis, well aware that the ledge they standing on became that much smaller after what happened against New Jersey.

Instead of closing the gap on a wild card spot to four points, with a head-to-head game against Arizona on Saturday, it killed their momentum, broke a city’s spirit and gave the teams ahead of them an incredible gift.

“We are all aware that it wasn’t our best, wasn’t good enough,” said winger Alex Chiasson, all you can do about the last one is make sure you win the next one. “The next three games we are playing teams above us in the standings and we are going to need our best. That is the only thing we can look forward to. We have to take last game and forget about it.”

At a time like this there is always a rush to declare that it is over. It’s not, of course. Not with 24 points still on the board. It just got a lot more unlikely now that they’ve thrown away two free points.

The Oilers are needing about a 10-2 finish now for 89 points, which leaves a lot less room for error than 9-3 would have. And it still won’t be enough if Arizona decides to go just 7-4-1.

All they can do now is pick up the pieces and see whether or not they can bounce back, and whether or not it even matters anymore.

“Lately we have done a much better job of finding our game a lot quicker after a loss or a game like this,” said Chiasson.

True enough. They’ve been humiliated before (this is the Oilers organization we’re talking about, remember) and answered with a strong run of games. Their coach got fired and they went 9-2-2 in the next 13. The Maple Leafs held their heads in the toilet on national television and they went 5-1 in the next six.

So there is hope for a response Saturday in a four-point game with Arizona that absolutely will break their backs if they lose. At this point, playing well and winning one game is their only option. At this point, the best case scenario is to cheat death for three more games and see what the numbers look like next week.

“We’ve played awfully well against good teams, especially on the road,” said head coach Ken Hitchcock. “We play our best hockey afraid. And playing teams ahead of you in the standings, there is a nervousness that goes with it. I think we’re going to play well.

“We’re going to have to. If we expect to stay in the playoff race we have to win two of the next three.

“As disappointing as (Wednesday) is, we have to move on. We play nothing but teams that are head of us in the standings and we have to catch up. We have to move on.”

This Week's Flyers

Comments

Postmedia is pleased to bring you a new commenting experience. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.